2020 was the year when Ulrikke Brandstorp was to take Europe by storm, and many believed that the song “Attention” was good enough to go all the way to the top of the Eurovision Song Contest. But a certain pandemic would change things, and instead of singing and dancing in Rotterdam, there was distance and restrictions at home in Oslo.
– I throw things between the walls, recalls Brandstorp when she is a guest on the sofa for Good Evening Norway.
– To represent Norway in Eurovision is the big dream of both me and my manager. So of course we were disappointed, but that’s why we’re trying again.
SMIL: Ulrikke visited Good evening Norway before this weekend’s semi-final. Photo: Martin Habbestad / Good evening Norway
Don’t let fear win
Because on Saturday, the road to Liverpool starts, when Brandstorp takes part in Norway’s first semi-final. This time the song is called “Honestly”, and the singer is honest about the fact that she feels the pressure.
– I thought about that a lot before I decided to join again. Because how will it feel to stand there and not win? Because it is absolutely not a given that you win. There are 20 other amazing songs and artists, says the 27-year-old, who realized she couldn’t let that fear stop her.
– I can’t do anything other than just do the best I can, and sing as well as I can, then let it go as it goes.
Don’t recognize the Norwegian MGP classic
Norwegian words in the song
Brandstorp says that it was not easy to go into the studio and make a song that could match, or surpass, “Attention” from 2020.
– We spent over half a year making “Honestly”.
– You’re getting tired of letting that go, aren’t you?
– Not sorry, but since you work so intensely, you love it one week, only to think it’s completely wrong the next week. It becomes like love-hate, but in the end we landed in a very good place. Now that it’s out, I feel like I’ve given birth to a child, laughs Brandstorp.
TWIST: Ulrikke Brandstorp and the team have added a Norwegian twist to the song, which Europe already loves. Photo: Martin Habbestad / Good evening Norway
In the song, they have chosen to interweave Norwegian words with the phrase “Til evi tid”, and that is of course not accidental.
– We think that we are going to Eurovision, and Europe loves that you have something that represents your country in the song. We’ve seen some reaction videos on it and they love it. They click when I sing “forever”, so it’s really fun that it was so well received, she says.
Marrying abroad
But the pandemic in 2020 was not only negative for Brandstorp, because she met the man of her dreams, to whom she is now engaged. He now notices that it is Melodi Grand Prix that gets all the attention at home.
– He started to feel a little bad yesterday, and then it was out of the question for him to sleep at home, so I sent him to his mother, laughs Brandstorp, and adds that the roommate is taking it very well and is proud of her.
Right now, Brandstorp is taking one dress at a time, and is fully focused on a possible Eurovision adventure before the wedding is planned.
– I have become so concerned with enjoying the things that happen in life, and taking one thing at a time. So the wedding will be in 2024, she says.
They have also decided on a place.
– It will be Barcelona. My dream, and Oskar’s then, is that we can create such a party and experience for our guests, that it will be as much for them as for us, says Brandstorp.
